Extreme Mountain Sports

In the world of sport, anything termed “extreme” usually has the connotation of being dangerous, potentially life-threatening. And some leisure activities that aren’t in themselves necessarily dangerous can become so under certain circumstance. Some would define an extreme sports as one that there would be a strong probability of death if in the course of performing it there was a mismanaged accident or mistake. In the case of extreme mountain sports, numerous accidents causing injury and death do happen.

Think of mountain biking, for example. It can on occasions be classed as one of the extreme mountain sports. In its extreme form there are various activities not for the faint hearted. Downhill mountain biking involves riding down a hill at very fast speeds. Bikes used in this discipline have front and rear suspension, larger brakes than normal, and are relatively heavy as they have to be sturdy. Sometimes this takes place on ski runs devoid of snow during the summer months, and a rider gets to the top of the run by use of a ski lift or vehicle. This form of mountain biking demands a great deal of skill and agility by the rider.

Then there are cross country races where mountain bike riders will race over rough terrain for distances of perhaps 20 or 30 miles. As with any race accidents can and do happen, hence the reason this kind of mountain biking is called extreme.

Dirt jumping is another of the extreme kinds of mountain biking. The rider hits the “take-off” and both him and his bike travel through the air, and before landing he will perform tricks such as backflips, spins and so on.

When thinking about extreme mountain sports we would also need to include any leisure activity that involved the use of a mountain in some way or other. This would apply to hang gliding for instance. Pilots can reach altitudes of several thousand feet, and travel at high speeds. Starting off is done from a high location so as to catch the thermals.

Paragliding is closely associated with hang gliding, though it is slower and can be done in lighter winds. Rather like a parachute a web of lines are attached to straps fixed to the bucket seat harness where the pilot sits. He then controls the direction and can also control the speed he travels at. With both hang gliding and paragliding accidents have happened where the pilot has been killed as he crashed into the side of a mountain. No wonder they are termed as extreme mountain sports.

Probably one of the most extreme mountain sports is BASE jumping. The jumper uses a parachute and jumps off one of four categories, a Building, Antenna (such as a tower), Span (a bridge or arch for example), or Earth (cliff, side of a mountain) which is where the name BASE comes from as it involves one of those four elements. The reasons this is so extreme are many, not least being the fact there is no reserve parachute, due to there being the lack of time to use it.

Snowboarding and some forms of skiing can also be viewed as extreme mountain sports. These are particularly the ones where tricks and maneuvers are done whilst in the air, and might involve somersaults, twists, turns and spins where in competition points are awarded for the artistry and style being displayed in the performance.

Perhaps a sign that the public has fallen in love with some extreme mountain sports is that these events are fast becoming more accepted by organisers during the Winter Olympics.